Red Velvet Cupcakes: goodeats

Two birthdays last weekend gave me an excuse to bake something sweet. Who doesn't like the fattiest of of all cupcakes....red velvet with cream cheese frosting!

The cake was from a fantastic cupcake blog and the frosting was from Paula Dean (duh). I was satisfied with the texture of the cake, moist and tasty, but when it came to the frosting I had to drastically reduce the amount of powdered sugar that Paula called for.  Also, after tasting one cupcake, I will definitely reduce the amount of butter for the next batch as well.  All in all, it was a tad bit too heavy for my taste...but what do you expect from mama Paula, the queen of  "more butta yall!"

 Paula dressed up as butter for Halloween......gross

Red Velvet Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz. red food coloring(two bottles)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners
2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a smaller bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
4. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Be careful as it will fizz so don't do it in a shallow bowl. Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Fill cupcake cups with cake batter until they are a little under 3/4 full. I ended up with about 25 cupcakes. Place muffin tins in your preheated oven. Bake for approximately 20, rotating pans halfway through. The cupcakes are done when you are able to pat the tops and the cake springs back up. If it sinks down they are not yet complete. Or you can insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake in the center of the tin and if it comes out clean they are done!
5. Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Cream cheese Frosting, courtesy of FattyMcButterson
1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened (I would recommend reducing this to 1 and 1/2 sticks)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (but really, 2.5 cups will do the trick)

After the cupcakes have cooled completely, frost away! I garnished half of mine with raspberries and the other half with crumbled cupcake pieces.  Enjoy!